The Days of Death
by Jake the Rattlesnake
Summary: A minion of Morgoth and Melkor, the great evils of Middle Earth has reappeared after many decades. With Thorin Oakenshield looking to take back The Lonely Mountain, and with Smaug claiming Erebor as his own... How will Middle Earth take this new threat?
1. Chapter 1: He Awakens

World: Middle Earth

Place: Ephel Duath, the Mountains of Shadow

Time: The Third Age (during the time of Bilbo's travels)

BOOM!

The ground shook, and the White City trembled. The Guards whispered amongst themselves, for they did not know what was coming. In the distance, a plume of ash and smoke arose from Ephel Duath, the Mountains of Shadow , but what the men of Gondor could not see was the figure in the pit. This figure was an ally of Evil and was a great shaper of flesh and bone, and was the Lord of Fowl creatures, mate to Ungoliant; The Great Spider and he was the Beast-keeper for Morgoth and Melkor. He fell during the battle of **Nírnaeth Arnoediad** , The Battle of Unnumbered Tears, and has awoken after countless decades of sleep. As the the man struggled to stand, he took in his surroundings, he could not remember who he was or how much pain he had done to this world. **He was reborn!**


	2. Chapter 2: A longer Journey

" _Black Speech_ "

Chapter 2: A Longer Journey ….

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Looking around at his surroundings, the figure noticed many things about this new world. It was cleaner, he could see the sky, and no one was in sight for miles around. Just him and the mountains, in the distance a mountain stood alone. " _Where am I? I must find shelter from this awful light…_ " The man made his way down the mountain range toward the lonely mountain. He soon found himself in a sort of marsh, where the souls of the dead and gone still lie…. He felt no fear of these dead faces, for instinct told him they could not hurt him, as he crossed the swamp lands he felt a great anger for awakening the forgotten, but the dead can't do anything to a man without his memory.

After many miles of harsh high land, soon the river **Anduin** appeared before him, knowing that life thrives near water he trekked upriver until he came to the base of a large waterfall. After seeing no way past this watery obstacle, he sat upon a nearby rock to think but his mind was suddenly filled with small whispers, like cobwebs. Looking around for the source of the voices, his gaze was drawn to the great trees of Mirkwood, but what the man saw would have reduced a lesser man to a quivering ball of terror….

* * *

Sorry people of the internet... this is my first story.

the chapters will get longer, just give me time...

reviews would help...


	3. Chapter 3: A Mothers Rage

"How do you know?" Marcus asked, "because there are very few things on Middle-Earth that could generate heat that strong, one of the least likely things is a still active dwarven forge. The others are slightly more probable, which are either a dragon or a Balrog. Except the only dragon alive is Smaug, and no Balrogs have been seen since the first age." Ungoliant explained. "Well then how do you explain the heat?" Mary pointedly asked, "Until we find out what is causing the heat, I can't." Ungoliant snapped back. "LADIES!" Marcus bellowed, "Calm the f**k down, before you wake whatever the hell lives down here". *boom* "what was that?" Ungoliant asked, *boom*, "The drums, there are drums in the dark" Mary said with a hushed voice. *boom* "It's getting louder!" Marcus yelled, as he morphed into a common graug, Ungoliant summoned her minions from every corner of Moria, and Mary slunk back to the nearest wall and vanished. Soon shrieks and howls filled the cave with a great force, Marcus bellowed a challenge sending the corridors into silence. He looked down at Ungoliant with a smug look on his face, until a different roar answered his challenge. Swinging his head to the doorway in time to see the stone frame shatter. A large shape lumbered through the dust, Ungoliant groaned "They have a cave troll". The grey skinned troll, was unusually massive, with a chain around its neck. With a roar the two titans charged at each other, slamming into the other with great force. Punching, pummeling, biting and tearing all commenced as the two fought. As the battle continued, Ungoliant held her own in the skirmish, sending her children to fight. Some orcs suddenly were lifted into the darkness screaming all the way only to fall silent, some perfectly healthy goblins suddenly dropped with a small brightly colored spider scuttling away. Mary was still in hiding, but she still played her part, a black fog filled the chamber and randomly orcs were dragged across the floor into the thickest part of the inky smoke. Marcus found himself hard pressed to defeat his lumbering foe, studying his surroundings he found an old dwarven cart. Lifting the cart, Marcus charged at the troll sending it out of the room and pinning it to a nearby wall. With the troll taken care of Marcus returned to the battle in time to see the ladies finish off the remaining orcs and goblins. After shifting back with immense pain, Marcus said with a lot effort "Well we should hurry out of here, before more of the little bastards show up." "Agreed" both of the girls exclaimed, but before they could a massive wave of heat blasted through the chamber and the hallway glowed with fire.

Suddenly the floor shook again, but it was definitely not the  
goblin drums. The heat increased as the tremors became stronger, the  
outside hall now shone brightly as the thing's foot stepped in front of the  
doorway. The giant foot and leg of the thing outside was covered in flame, and a flaming clawed hand grabbed the top of the door frame and ripped it from the stone. The trio was presented with a magnificent sight; a Balrog completely wreathed in fire, massive flaming wings were tucked neatly on its back, a tail as long as a graug is tall, a flaming whip and sword were held in each hand. The large horned head engulfed in fire, bent low to survey the room and after inspection settled its gaze on the group. "Sorry for the attack, the stupid filthy things only listen to violence". A deep voice spoke in their heads, "Now that all that is done, why are you here?". Before Marcus could speak, Mary shouted "O Durin's Bane, my companions and I are here because of a quest given through a dream". After a moment of silence, the monstrous voice rumbled through their minds again; "What is this quest, and why did it send you here?" This time Ungoliant answered "Seek the daughter of demon, the bastard son of a fire-spitter, an old friend of silk webbing, and the spawn of He Who Watches, and last; the Gems of starlight." As she spoke the fire that engulfed the behemoth, dimmed, and when she was done speaking, it went out completely leaving a blackened statue. After a few minutes of silence, the voice once again flowed through their heads, "Who told you that I had made my home here and that a demon had spawned a daughter ? Speak quickly before I burn you from the inside out". As the voice spoke, flames exploded off the immobile being causing the trio to jump back, but a large amount of Ungoliant's spiders were vaporized, sending Ungoliant into a mother's rage. She then screamed "All spiders are my children or grand-children, I see all they see, I hear all they hear, when they get hurt; I feel their pain! To answer your question…. demon, I was the one who knew where you slept. I have been in this world for longer than your kind, I created the darkness that corrupted your past. Yes, your kin drove me off due to my hunger and greed, but then there were many of you…. Now there is just one." Even the mighty demon could not withstand an immortal mother's rage. As Ungoliant moved forward, the fiery being took large steps back trying to avoid the raging mother. She started to morph into the monster from Marcus's memory.  
In her new form, she was as tall as the balrog, with four arms; two large arms, two small ones, her legs were bent and crooked, her hands ended in large talons, all eight eyes focused on the retreating demon.

The demon was backed into a dead-end by the furious Ungoliant, as  
she stepped closer her rage only increased, but before she could strike down the Balrog, a ball of lava landed on her back causing her to bellow with rage. Ungoliant turned to see what had interrupted her revenge, only to see a teenage girl wading through the lava to get to her. The girl had red hot hair, a leather jacket, and some sort of brown pants, only after looking closer did Ungoliant see that her hair was on fire, had small breasts, she had large wings sprouting from her shoulders and she had a tail. "Stay out of this **GIRL** if you know what's good for you!" Ungoliant hissed. "Then, you creepy lady; Get- Away- From- My- FATHER!" the girl screamed, and launched herself at Ungoliant. Just as the girl was about to try to tackle Ungoliant, she found herself wrapped in large, wet tentacles coming from what seemed to be the wall of the cave, only to look closer and see the outline of a girl slowly appear. "I would not mess with a mother avenging her children…. It will not go well for anything in her way, best to let this happen" Mary said. "But she will kill my father, let- ME- **GO!** " The girl shouted, as she burst into flames. Mary yelped and removed her tentacles from the fiery girl, and the girl fell to the floor, landed on her feet and took off running. This entire time both Ungoliant and Marcus watched in amazement and horror. With Ungoliant distracted, the Balrog slipped away back to the depths of Moria, "Run Father, I will be fine" the girl screamed. "NOOO!" Ungoliant yelled, she started to go after it only for Marcus to step in front of her, halting her charge. "Ungoliant, stop this madness" Marcus exclaimed, "I need you to calm down, if you want to do something; capture the damn girl!" Whipping around to the left, she scuttled off after the girl with lightning speed. Ungoliant sling-shot herself a great distance, and landed directly behind the girl. 'Why has she not used her wings to fly away?' Ungoliant questioned, this hunt was getting boring so Ungoliant  
spun a web and tossed it at the girl, tangling her legs and preventing her get away. Ungoliant slammed down behind the girl with a loud crash, sending a wave of ash and dust cascading over the trapped girl. With her rage spent Ungoliant shifted back to her human-ish form, and she sauntered over to the struggling girl with a smile on her face, and summoned some of her surviving children to carry the girl back to Marcus and Mary. With a large grin on her face, Ungoliant walked by and said "Got her, now what?". Marcus then said "Well she is obviously the daughter of a demon, so we can't kill her. All we can do is wait until morning to decide what to do."

During the night, the group discovered that the half-demon girl  
was like a portable campfire, as the girl always had some sort of body part on fire, but as all teens are bound to be; keeping her alive became very, very difficult. As Marcus and the others searched for the exit to the mines the girl complained the whole time, as she also became quite bipolar: sometimes quiet and obedient, other times distant and defensive. "OK, I have had enough of this bullshit, you have a choice little girl. You can either shut up and accept that you are now in this to the end OR you can continue bitching until one of us decides to finish what Ungoliant did to your father" Marcus snapped. This caused the girl barely flinch, but Marcus noticed and he asked "So what is your decision?". After a few minutes, the girl whispered "Fine I will go with you….". "Great, so you are now a part of this quest" Marcus said, he turned to the others, "OK, now we have three out of five things we were told to collect."

"So, girl do you know the way out of this hell, or will we have to  
go back the way we came? Because I am fairly sure that Mary's dad won't take kindly to his daughter being in the company of a fiery half-demon." Ungoliant chimed in. With a nod, the girl pointed to a set of stairs. Now that the moody teenage demon had calmed down, the rest of the trip out of Moria went well. Until they reached the upper world again, and unknowingly found themselves close to the domain of the one ring of power…. The Lady Galadriel. "Wait, nobody move! We are about to enter a forest that none of my children have ever come back from, they go in then *Thunk* their little minds go blank. Instead of going through I think we should go around, it might be safer" Ungoliant said.

"No, the fastest way to Erebor is through this forest. Stay low,  
we don't know what we could encounter here, it might not be as nice as Moira" Marcus said, "We will camp here for tonight, we each sleep across from each other in a three sided shape and put the girl in the middle".  
"Right" came the reply from Ungoliant and Mary, "Fine, but I am only doing it because it is safer to sleep in the middle" The girl said. The four of them  
took their places and drifted off to sleep with the sound of wind flowing  
through the trees, and the call of the night birds. The girl suddenly woke up,  
'something is wrong' she thought, as she turned in a circle her flames  
illuminated the area around her. "Marcus" she whispered, he did not move.  
"Marcus, wake up" she said again, "What…." he asked groggily. "There is things out there, watching us" she said staring intently into the woods, Marcus followed her gaze and found himself looking into the eyes of a very large and very angry ghul Matron.


	4. Chapter 1-3 edited better

Chapter 1:He Awakens

There was a large explosion out of the White City, causing the buildings within to tremble.  
The ground itself shook. The Guards whispered amongst themselves, they were unsure as to what was coming.  
In the distance, a plume of ash and smoke arose from Ered Lithui, but what the men of Gondor could not see was the figure in the pit.  
This figure could not remember that he used to be an ally of evil, and was a great shaper of flesh and bone. The figure was the Lord of fowl creatures,  
and the Consort to Ungoliant; The Lady of the Webs. Beastkeeper for Morgoth and Melkor. According to the old tales, he fell during the battle of Nírnaeth Arnoediad,  
or "The Battle of Unnumbered Tears", and vanished into history. As the man struggled to stand he took in his surroundings. He could not remember who he was or how much pain he had brought to this world. He had been reborn anew! Meanwhile…. In the depths of Erebor, under mounds of gold and crystals; a dragon lay dreaming. At the same time miles away in a dark cave, a thousand eyes looked to a silk throne. The figure that sat on the throne looked into the distance and said: "Find him". Looking around at his surroundings, the figure noticed many things about this new world. It was cleaner, he could see the sky, and no one was in sight for miles around. Just him and the mountains, in the distance one mountain stood alone. "Where am I?" He questioned before looking at the sun. He growled and covered his eyes, "I must find shelter from this awful light…." The man made his way down the mountain range toward the lonely mountain. He soon found himself in a sort of marsh, where the souls of the dead and gone still lay…. He felt no fear of these dead faces, for instinct told him they could not hurt him, for the dead can't harm a man without his memory. As he crossed the swamp lands and felt a great anger for awakening the forgotten souls. After many miles of harsh highland, the man soon came upon the river Anduin. The man knew that humans thrive near water. He trekked upriver until he came to the base of a large waterfall. After seeing no way past this watery obstacle, he sat upon a nearby rock to think but his mind was suddenly filled with small whispers, like cobwebs. Looking around for the source of the voices, his gaze was drawn to the great trees of Mirkwood, but what the man saw would have reduced a lesser man to a quivering ball of terror…

In the trees was a horde of horse-sized spiders watching with hundreds of Opel eyes shining in the dappled light.  
Black bodies covered in spores and mushrooms, blending in with the dappled light. As thin strands of liquid silver glinted,  
only seen when the light hits. The whispers faded until only one small voice spoke. "Come forth," the man said, the treetops shook as the spiders parted,  
a spider the size of a man, small compared to the others, crawled to him and bowed, causing the others to bend knees and kneel.  
Confused, the man started to speak but he felt soft strands of webbing on his head, trying to brush off the strands,  
only to find that his hand was now stuck and was lifted off his feet, straight into a branch. Waking up in a cocoon of silk, the man processed his situation.  
Remembering his knife at his side, he sliced a slit so he could see. 'It's dark,' he thought, that can't be good…. Cutting the web more revealed a rock floor and hall,  
with an overhang above a cliff-face. "Oh, so you are awake," a voice said from the shadows, it sounded familiar but he could not figure out why it affected him so. Trying to angle his head to find where the voice came from proved ineffective, so he cut himself free from the webbing and found himself with two decisions; climb down, or go the direction of the voice and head deeper into the cave. Soon the light from the sun faded, and was replaced with a blue/green glow,  
"Getting warmer, honey". 'Honey?' He entered a dark room, with walls full of small caves branching off. Suddenly he was ensnared by webs again and hoisted into the air where he dangled in the dark. From the shadows, a huffy voice said "You disappear for an age without a word, we all thought you were dead!", "Um," he said, "HUSH, I am not done…. Where the hell did you go, and tell the truth?" the voice screamed. "I'm very sorry; madam, but I don't know who you are. I just woke up at the base of some mountains and walked until I found a river, and followed it a cliff face". The voice in the dark was silent for a bit,  
"You don't know…. What does the name 'Ungoliant' mean to you"? Hearing the name caused the man to fall to his knees, flashes of battles past, a woman, and a great eye of fire. "Seek the daughter of fire demon, the bastard son of a fire-spitter, an old friend of silk webbing, and the spawn of He Who Watches, and last; the Gems of starlight."  
A great voice roared. The man awoke on a bed of silk, with the small spider from before watching over him, "What are you called" the man asked, "I have no name, names are earned" the spider replied. The man said "Well that won't do, from this moment forth….I claim you, you are now mine to do with as I please, and I Name you…."  
"Silver-Silk!" the man shouted. Suddenly the female voice from before called from the darkness, "Who gave you the right to claim my children…hmmm?" "The fact that Silver-Silk here was unnamed, gave me that right," the man said."If I am to stay here, it would be polite to know the name of my host…" after a few moments, he got a reply, a strand of webbing shot from the darkness, rendering him immobile. The tread began to drag him towards a heavy curtain of silk, after passing through he found himself in a large room with a platform suspended from the ceiling by webs. After being laid on his back on the platform, the man could finally see who had been the voice in the dark, The Lady of the Webs.  
She was hanging from the top of the cave by small micro-webs connected to her six long spider legs that seemed to be connected to her back. She had a small face with six eyes, mouth full of fangs, jet black hair. She had a slim body with, medium sized breasts and long arms with sharp talons, she was covered in a spider silk and glow-worm slime robe. After seeing her hanging there, the man just became more and more confused, why does she seem so familiar? Why did she bring me here? Who does she think I am? But before any questions could be asked, the lady swung down and pulled him into a deep SNOG fest….  
(One Saucy scene later)  
Upon daybreak, the hive retreated back to the cave. As the light of day grew brighter, the light from the shrooms and glow-worms dimmed. With the rise of the sun, came the awakening of man, all but one. He was lying on a bed of silk webbing, but his female companion was nowhere to be found. 'What the hell?' he thought, as he tried to leave the bed only to remember that the platform was suspended from the ceiling before he hit the ground he was lifted into the air by sharp spines, attached to long legs emerging from the shadows. "Going somewhere?" the woman's voice from before whispered, "Um just out to get some air, to um clear my head," he said suspiciously. "Well did last night, jog your memory?" she asked, "No." He responded, she sighed and said, "Well let's try this again, what the name 'Ungoliant' means to you?" Once again he was sent back into his past, he was in the midst of a great battle. He commanded legions of orcs, trolls, and goblins. He turned as his past self-looked to his left, the nine servants of Sauron stood to his left, as if waiting for orders. On his right stood a massive spider-thing, as big as an Oliphant! As the spider moved closer, it morphed into the lady from the night before!  
The man jerked awake, only to be blinded by the rays of light coming from the entrance of the cave, only to find that he could not move because he was once again wrapped in webbing. "Welcome back to the world of the living" the woman's voice echoed through the cave, "Ungoliant?" the man exclaimed. "Oh, so you now remember, hmm?" she asked, "Some things are coming back, but not much. Only that you have followed me into battle more than once" he replied. "Well then, since you talk in your sleep I have learned of the quest you have been given," she said, "My quest?" he questioned. "Yes, you need to collect the bastard son of a dragon, daughter of a balrog, the spawn of the Watcher, and obviously you have found The Lady of Webs." she explained, "but where am I supposed to find them, and what then am I supposed to do when I find them?" he asked. "Well I know where to find the Spawn of the Watcher, it's three nights ride without interruption," she said. "Why nights?" he asked,  
"Because my children and I can't stay in the light for long, without turning to ash and dust…" (Later that day)  
As the man and his feminine companion prepared for travel, the light of day faded and the sky shown with white lights. The pair set off by spider-back, with the man on the left and the lady on the right. Passing through the trees with relative silence, the pair were deep in hushed conversation, "So we should probably think of a name for you that won't cause a global panic…. Nox, Nyx, Opal?" Why the name of precious stones?" she asked. "Do you have a better one….hmmm?" He questioned, "Well no, but we should come back to this later until then I am mute." she told him. "Ok, so how far until we get to this Watcher?" he asked, "Not far, but to enter the mountains we must pass Isengard, home of Saruman, the White Wizard." "He will help us, or he will kill us," she explained, and they continued in silence, with the only noise between them was a series of large footsteps and the trembling of leaves. "We are not alone in this forest are we?" the man asked, "no, we are in the forest of Fangorn, home of the Ent's, they watch us even now." she said to him. As if on cue a large branch snatched up the man, holding him high into the air. As the branch came to a stop, he found himself staring into deep golden eyes of a being as old as time itself. A voice that shook the air around them said; "harrumph, my forest?" "TREEBEARD PUT HIM DOWN!" Ungoliant screamed. The branch immediately released the man, letting him fall to the forest floor with a crack.

Chapter 2:An Adventure Begins

"MARCUS!" Ungoliant screamed. Landing with an audible snap, the man prepared for a rush of pain from a bone break, except it never came. He discovered that he fell on a stick as big around as his thigh. 'How the hell did I not break any bones, and my name is Marcus?' the man thought, as he looked at his body. The parts of his leg and torso, were covered in a bone like material, hard as stone, but comfortable to wear. He watched in amazement as the bone plating sank back into his skin and vanished from sight. 'What the hell?' he thought, after concentrating for a bit, he could summon the bone shell at will. Forming different shapes such as blades or claws, took some time but he got it down soon enough. Forming an axe on the end of his wrist, he moved to strike at a tree trunk only to remember that an Ent still stood nearby and stopped his swing halfway. "Marcus, are you alright and what are you doing?" Ungoliant asked,"Humph…. if he had…. touched the tree…. he would have…. lost his head….." The Tree-Man said. "I am fine, we should continue our journey" Marcus said with a sigh, starting to walk away he started to brush off twigs and leaves from his shoulders. Turning around to see the spider lady in deep conversation, with the Ent, after a few moments the woman broke off the conversation and walked towards him, "What was that about?" Marcus asked. "After I explained what we are doing, he wanted to help so he gave me this" Ungoliant told him, she then held up an acorn. "And this will help us how?" Marcus asked, "Fangorn told me that if I am ever in need of a hand, I have two choices: eat it and gain skin as strong as ironwood, or throw it and summon a Trevent". "Well that should come in handy for the demon and the dragon. We should continue on our way to the Isengard, before sun-rise" Marcus said. "There it is…. Isengard, home of Saruman. Let us hope he is feeling merciful…. Ah here he comes, *whispers* let me do the talking." Ungoliant said. "Sister, dear you must give me warning before paying a visit, I have yet to tidy up the place." Saruman said, "Sister, I must ask about this later…." Marcus thought. "Well brother, the Ent's in Fangorn kind of prevented any way of communication. So I fail to see how a warning would get through, and what on earth would make you clean up after yourself?" Ungoliant asked.

"Well I have recently acquired an object that allows me to see far and wide," the White Wizard said. "You have found a Palantir? How? Where?" she asked, "I will not share said knowledge with you, sister." Saruman said. Suddenly Marcus felt a surge of power surging from the tower, and took a step towards the building and felt his bones loudly snap. As Ungoliant and Saruman turned, they saw that in Marcus's place was a giant flesh beast, with large wings spread, long bone talons carved the earth, sharp spears of bone existed between jaws that could swallow a horse. With a loud crack, the beast took off, flying to the tower. "Shit!" both Ungoliant and Saruman said, they took off sprinting to the tower, with Saruman magically enhancing his speed, and Ungoliant morphing to a half-spider form. Launching a thread of silk Ungoliant swung around and shot herself up the side of the large building. It did not take long for her to reach the room where the flesh beast stood, as she watched, the flesh seemed to recede back into the shape of a man. "Marcus?" she asked but there was silent except for heavy breathing, suddenly there was a series of pops and snaps, and all the flesh was gone, leaving Marcus kneeling. Walking up to him slowly, Ungoliant reached out a hand and placed it on his shoulder, causing him to flinch. "What just happened?" she asked, "I don't know" he said. The door burst open with Saruman standing in the doorway, prepared for battle. "It's ok, brother…. all is as it was. What is under the tarp Saruman?" Ungoliant asked. "A Palantir, I have been using it to keep an eye on Dul-Guldur, where giant spiders and orcs have been spawning." Saruman explained. "Spiders? But all my children are in the forest, who else controls my children?" Ungoliant questioned, "These spiders came from Mirkwood, your old nest. The wood elves have been trying to kill them all, but when their numbers drop they retreat to Dul-Guldur." Saruman told her. Ungoliant nodded and swiftly left the room, with Marcus in toe. When they reached the edge of Isengard, Ungoliant asked " Did you know you could do any of those things?". "Not until I felt the power from the Palantir, and transformed, it just felt right." Marcus responded, "Well try again, this time try a Graug, then an Oliphant, and last: try me." she told him, "OK" he said. Marcus closed his eyes and concentrated, and felt his bones enlarge and twist, his flesh expand and harden, he felt bones pierce his skin over his shoulders, and his teeth and nails grow sharper. He stood before Ungoliant as a Horned Graug after about 10 minutes of agonizing pain. Changing back into a man, he said "I think I can only do one form at a time." "OK, well try an Oliphant now" she told him. Once again closing his eyes and focusing, he felt his bones swell and lengthen, his muscles grow and his arms shorten. He felt four points emerge from his mouth and enlarge into tusks. After an hour he again stood before her as an Oliphant, and exhausted. "OK now try to mimic me." Ungoliant said, for the last time he closed his eyes, and felt his body shrink, six long spikes emerged from his back, and he felt his chest become heavy and his delicate parts change. Before Ungoliant, was an exact copy of herself, except the color was blood red. "Ugh change back please, It's nauseating to look at myself." she exclaimed, "Ok" the copy said in her voice. As he changed back, Ungoliant checked on her children, "Any movement?" she asked. "No, mother. The pond has not stirred" an orb weaver spider told her, 'good' she thought. The trek through the Misty Mountains was quite easy, due to riding giant spiders, the only problem was the never ending sense of being watched. As the pair reached the entrance to Moria, they came upon a door, with Elvin words written in the stone. "Now what" Marcus asked, not responding Ungoliant reached down and picked up a small stone, and threw it into the water creating large ripples. "Now we wait for a response" she told him, "Wait for who" Marcus questioned, "The Watcher, let's hope it's in a good mood…." Ungoliant responded. Marcus leaned over the water impatiently, and looked at his reflection. He was a 6.5 and strongly built, both hands were permanently stained red, but his left hand was a darker red than the other. His white cloak shown faintly through the darkness, in the light of his cloak his black hair shimmered in the dark. Deep in the water something glimmered in the murk, when suddenly the water erupted with long shapes, that grabbed and pulled. Marcus was ripped off his feet and dragged into the water, reforming his bone blade he sliced off the tip of the thing that held him, a loud shriek filled the air. The shapes became still and quiet, as a wet face emerged from the water, it looked like an old man but enraged, The shapes started to move again angrily. "Father, calm down! They are here for me." a girlish voice said from behind the Watcher, the fight went out of the monster immediately. From behind the monster a girl appeared, or what seemed to be a girl. From the waist up she was a teen girl, with light blue bio-luminescent hair, large breasts, and a black jacket. From the waist down, she had eight tentacles with grabbing claws at the end of each, and she wore a red and black skirt held up with a belt of shells. "I know why you are here, Marcus" the girl said. "How do you know both my name and my intentions?" Marcus asked, "well before we start asking questions, my name is Marina, but you can call me Mary, and I know your name because we have had some *fun* in the past haven't we?" she asked with a giggle, but before he could answer Ungoliant jumped in, "Marcus has had some memory loss in the near past, but it is slowly coming back to him, so he won't remember names for a good long while now". "Oh, that explains a lot." Mary sighed then said "Well, you asked how I knew of your quest, yes?", Marcus responded with "Yes, how did you learn of this quest?". "I learned of it from Spider's children, the little darlings do tend to talk, when they are lifted above my pets." Mary said, then gestured to the water, not a ripple to indicate that something moved beneath, but after a small rock was tossed, it became a swarming frenzy of teeth and scales. Marcus looked over Ungoliant, who was trembling with fury. Marcus reached over to put his arm around her shoulder to help settle her down, they now sat for a few minutes of silence, with door still shut tight. "So are you going to sit here and try to find a way into Moria OR you can let my father open it for you?" Mary asked, then she turned around and spoke in a strange language, causing the monster to move from within the water towards the stone door. The behemoth hauled itself out of the pond, and onto the stony beach. It reached the door and placed its forehead on the door, and grumbled something unintelligible, causing the door to slowly swing open. As the Watcher slid back into the water, Marcus and the two women started to walk to the door, only for Mary to stop and turn back to the water, shouting something back to the creature in the water. She then turned back and briskly slid past Marcus and Ungoliant, straight into Moria. The great doors closed behind them with a soft thud, plunging the trio into darkness. The only light came from Mary's hair and that was very faint, but bright enough to see that the floors were covered in skeletons, big and small, goblin and dwarf. "This is no mine…. It's a tomb!" both Marcus and Ungoliant asked, "This used to be the great dwarf city of Kaz-eh-Dume, before the dwarfs dug up a great evil, and it slaughtered hundreds, including Durin, and Dwalin. It then became known as "Durins Bane", and settled down there as it's home, my father and I could feel the heat from its rages through rock and stone. I have lived in this world for 180 years, and this evil was here before me." Mary told them. "Yes, please don't make me repeat myself again. It is very tiring." Mary then said to them. "Then don't repeat yourself, Marcus…. I think that our next companion is close to joining us" Ungoliant said.

Chapter 3: A Mother's anger

"How do you know?" Marcus asked, "because there are very few things on Middle-Earth that could generate heat that strong, one of the least likely things is a still active dwarven forge. The others are slightly more probable, which are either a dragon or a Balrog. Except the only dragon alive is Smaug, and no Balrogs have been seen since the first age." Ungoliant explained. "Well then how do you explain the heat?" Mary pointedly asked, "Until we find out what is causing the heat, I can't." Ungoliant snapped back. "LADIES!" Marcus bellowed, "Calm the f**k down, before you wake whatever the hell lives down here". *boom* "what was that?" Ungoliant asked, *boom*, "The drums, there are drums in the dark" Mary said with a hushed voice. *boom* "It's getting louder!" Marcus yelled, as he morphed into a common graug, Ungoliant summoned her minions from every corner of Moria, and Mary slunk back to the nearest wall and vanished. Soon shrieks and howls filled the cave with a great force, Marcus bellowed a challenge sending the corridors into silence. He looked down at Ungoliant with a smug look on his face, until a different roar answered his challenge. Swinging his head to the doorway in time to see the stone frame shatter. A large shape lumbered through the dust, Ungoliant groaned "They have a cave troll". The grey skinned troll, was unusually massive, with a chain around its neck. With a roar the two titans charged at each other, slamming into the other with great force. Punching, pummeling, biting and tearing all commenced as the two fought. As the battle continued, Ungoliant held her own in the skirmish, sending her children to fight. Some orcs suddenly were lifted into the darkness screaming all the way only to fall silent, some perfectly healthy goblins suddenly dropped with a small brightly colored spider scuttling away. Mary was still in hiding, but she still played her part, a black fog filled the chamber and randomly orcs were dragged across the floor into the thickest part of the inky smoke. Marcus found himself hard pressed to defeat his lumbering foe, studying his surroundings he found an old dwarven cart. Lifting the cart, Marcus charged at the troll sending it out of the room and pinning it to a nearby wall. With the troll taken care of Marcus returned to the battle in time to see the ladies finish off the remaining orcs and goblins. After shifting back with immense pain, Marcus said with a lot effort "Well we should hurry out of here, before more of the little bastards show up." "Agreed" both of the girls exclaimed, but before they could a massive wave of heat blasted through the chamber and the hallway glowed with fire.  
Suddenly the floor shook again, but it was definitely not the goblin drums. The heat increased as the tremors became stronger, the outside hall now shone brightly as the thing's foot stepped in front of the doorway. The giant foot and leg of the thing outside was covered in flame, and a flaming clawed hand grabbed the top of the door frame and ripped it from the stone. The trio was presented with a magnificent sight; a Balrog completely wreathed in fire, massive flaming wings were tucked neatly on its back, a tail as long as a graug is tall, a flaming whip and sword were held in each hand. The large horned head engulfed in fire, bent low to survey the room and after inspection settled its gaze on the group. "Sorry for the attack, the stupid filthy things only listen to violence". A deep voice spoke in their heads, "Now that all that is done, why are you here?". Before Marcus could speak, Mary shouted "O Durin's Bane, my companions and I are here because of a quest given through a dream". After a moment of silence, the monstrous voice rumbled through their minds again; "What is this quest, and why did it send you here?" This time Ungoliant answered "Seek the daughter of demon, the bastard son of a fire-spitter, an old friend of silk webbing, and the spawn of He Who Watches, and last; the Gems of starlight." As she spoke the fire that engulfed the behemoth, dimmed, and when she was done speaking, it went out completely leaving a blackened statue. After a few minutes of silence, the voice once again flowed through their heads, "Who told you that I had made my home here and that a demon had spawned a daughter ? Speak quickly before I burn you from the inside out". As the voice spoke, flames exploded off the immobile being causing the trio to jump back, but a large amount of Ungoliant's spiders were vaporized, sending Ungoliant into a mother's rage. She then screamed "All spiders are my children or grand-children, I see all they see, I hear all they hear, when they get hurt; I feel their pain! To answer your question…. demon, I was the one who knew where you slept. I have been in this world for longer than your kind, I created the darkness that corrupted your past. Yes, your kin drove me off due to my hunger and greed, but then there were many of you…. Now there is just one." Even the mighty demon could not withstand an immortal mother's rage. As Ungoliant moved forward, the fiery being took large steps back trying to avoid the raging mother. She started to morph into the monster from Marcus's memory.  
In her new form, she was as tall as the balrog, with four arms; two large arms, two small ones, her legs were bent and crooked, her hands ended in large talons, all eight eyes focused on the retreating demon.  
The demon was backed into a dead-end by the furious Ungoliant, as she stepped closer her rage only increased, but before she could strike down the Balrog, a ball of lava landed on her back causing her to bellow with rage. Ungoliant turned to see what had interrupted her revenge, only to see a teenage girl wading through the lava to get to her. The girl had red hot hair, a leather jacket, and some sort of brown pants, only after looking closer did Ungoliant see that her hair was on fire, had small breasts, she had large wings sprouting from her shoulders and she had a tail. "Stay out of this GIRL if you know what's good for you!" Ungoliant hissed. "Then, you creepy lady; Get- Away- From- My- FATHER!" the girl screamed, and launched herself at Ungoliant. Just as the girl was about to try to tackle Ungoliant, she found herself wrapped in large, wet tentacles coming from what seemed to be the wall of the cave, only to look closer and see the outline of a girl slowly appear. "I would not mess with a mother avenging her children…. It will not go well for anything in her way, best to let this happen" Mary said. "But she will kill my father, let- ME- GO!" The girl shouted, as she burst into flames. Mary yelped and removed her tentacles from the fiery girl, and the girl fell to the floor, landed on her feet and took off running. This entire time both Ungoliant and Marcus watched in amazement and horror. With Ungoliant distracted, the Balrog slipped away back to the depths of Moria, "Run Father, I will be fine" the girl screamed. "NOOO!" Ungoliant yelled, she started to go after it only for Marcus to step in front of her, halting her charge. "Ungoliant, stop this madness" Marcus exclaimed, "I need you to calm down, if you want to do something; capture the damn girl!" Whipping around to the left, she scuttled off after the girl with lightning speed. Ungoliant sling-shot herself a great distance, and landed directly behind the girl. 'Why has she not used her wings to fly away?' Ungoliant questioned, this hunt was getting boring so Ungoliant spun a web and tossed it at the girl, tangling her legs and preventing her get away. Ungoliant slammed down behind the girl with a loud crash, sending a wave of ash and dust cascading over the trapped girl. With her rage spent Ungoliant shifted back to her human-ish form, and she sauntered over to the struggling girl with a smile on her face, and summoned some of her surviving children to carry the girl back to Marcus and Mary. With a large grin on her face, Ungoliant walked by and said "Got her, now what?". Marcus then said "Well she is obviously the daughter of a demon, so we can't kill her. All we can do is wait until morning to decide what to do."  
During the night, the group discovered that the half-demon girl was like a portable campfire, as the girl always had some sort of body part on fire, but as all teens are bound to be; keeping her alive became very, very difficult. As Marcus and the others searched for the exit to the mines the girl complained the whole time, as she also became quite bipolar: sometimes quiet and obedient, other times distant and defensive. "OK, I have had enough of this bullshit, you have a choice little girl. You can either shut up and accept that you are now in this to the end OR you can continue bitching until one of us decides to finish what Ungoliant did to your father" Marcus snapped. This caused the girl barely flinch, but Marcus noticed and he asked "So what is your decision?". After a few minutes, the girl whispered "Fine I will go with you….". "Great, so you are now a part of this quest" Marcus said, he turned to the others, "OK, now we have three out of five things we were told to collect." "So, girl do you know the way out of this hell, or will we have to go back the way we came? Because I am fairly sure that Mary's dad won't take kindly to his daughter being in the company of a fiery half-demon." Ungoliant chimed in. With a nod, the girl pointed to a set of stairs. Now that the moody teenage demon had calmed down, the rest of the trip out of Moria went well. Until they reached the upper world again, and unknowingly found themselves close to the domain of the one ring of power…. The Lady Galadriel. "Wait, nobody move! We are about to enter a forest that none of my children have ever come back from, they go in then *Thunk* their little minds go blank. Instead of going through I think we should go around, it might be safer" Ungoliant said. "No, the fastest way to Erebor is through this forest. Stay low,  
we don't know who or what we could encounter here, it might not be as nice as Moira" Marcus said, "We will camp here for tonight, we each sleep across from each other in a three sided shape and put the walking torch in the middle". "Right" came the reply from Ungoliant and Mary. "Fine, but I am only doing it because it is safer to sleep in the middle" the girl said. The four of them took their places and drifted off to sleep with the sound of wind flowing through the trees, and the call of the night birds. The girl suddenly woke up, 'something is wrong' she thought, as she turned in a circle her flames illuminated the area around her. "Marcus" she whispered, he did not move. "Marcus, wake up" she said again, "What…." he asked groggily. "There is things out there, watching us" she said staring intently into the woods, Marcus followed her gaze and found himself looking into the eyes of a very large and very angry ghul Matron.

Chapter 4: Moving On

With death staring him in the face, Marcus suddenly fell forward with his vision going dark, and the only thought that went through his head was: "This grass is sooooo soft". Marcus woke to find himself in a white grove with large oak trees glowing silver in the mist. "Marcus Flesh-Lord, You have been through much, you have forgotten who you were, you have forgotten what was done and now on my doorstep" a voice spoke from the forest. "But who are you? Why did a Ghul trigger this? What is this place?" Marcus asked in a forced calm voice, "In time you will know, but the Ghul; it is a gift for you that originally was sent from Mordor as a trade for my hand. Now as for your blackout it was triggered because I wanted it to happen, and this place is my home, completely pure in every way. I do not believe in luck, but in fate. You can only stay for a day and night, I wish I could give you more but your past crimes prevent me from helping further. Go Marcus, your friends are waiting for you…. Go, my love…." A voice from the whiteness of the forest told him as the darkness clouded his vision once more. He awoke to Ungoliant standing over him with a concerned look on her face, " You OK" she asked. "Yea I am fine, what happened to the Ghul?" Marcus asked her, "Mary has it under control" she responded. Marcus looked over to to his left to see the demon girl poking the motionless Matrion suspended in Mary's tentacle claws. "Well what should we do with it?" asked Ungoliant.


End file.
